WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump said in an interview Tuesday that his former lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen was "lying" when he testified that the president directed him to break the law.

Speaking with the Associated Press, the president took on a number of issues, including his soured relationship with Cohen, who went from vowing to take a bullet for the commander in chief to offering help to federal authorities investigating possible obstruction of justice by the president.

Cohen pleaded guilty in August to eight criminal counts, including violating federal campaign finance laws. One of the violations was tied to Cohen's payment to porn star Stormy Daniels, who was given $130,000 in exchange for her silence about an alleged affair with Trump.

Cohen, while pleading guilty in federal court, said Trump directed him to make the payments, which violated federal law.

Trump told the AP Cohen's claim was "totally false." He said Cohen was merely "a PR person who did small legal work."

Cohen's attorney, Lanny Davis, told USA TODAY his client had "two words" for the president's claims on truth versus lies: "audio and tape." He said the president should be worried.

CLOSE

The audio, released by Cohen's attorney exclusively to CNN, allegedly reveals plans between Cohen and President Trump to keep a story about Trump's affair out of the National Enquirer.
USA TODAY

Davis said on Twitter his client testified under oath and "took responsibility," adding the president wouldn't testify because he "can not afford to tell the truth."

Davis' comment on a tape appeared to relate to Cohen's practice of secretly recording people during business dealings and meetings, more specificly on a taped conversation between him and the president.

The tapes include a host of people, including journalists, and cover a variety of topics, including some revolved around the president's business.

Davis announced on Twitter last week that his client has changed his registration from Republican to Democrat. He described the move as an effort to distance "himself from the values of the current" administration.

Cohen retweeted Davis' post and a link to an Axios story that first reported the news.

The switch came on the eve of Friday's deadline for New Yorkers to register to vote in the November election.

Cohen had been a registered Democrat for years until changing his registration in March 2017. "It took a great man to get me to the make the switch," Cohen said at the time on Twitter, referring to Trump.

Robin Bell, left, and Sorane Yamahira look at their work projected on the Trump International Hotel, July 23, 2018, in Washington. In a city with a long tradition of leftist street activism, Bell has become something of a local celebrity. Every few weeks, Bell puts messages of protest on the side of the Trump International Hotel. He's called President Donald Trump a pig and a racist, used smiling poop emojis, and taunted the president with images of his former lawyer, Michael Cohen. Alex Brandon, AP

Michael Cohen, longtime personal lawyer and confidante for President Donald Trump, leaves Federal Court after his hearing at the United States District Court Southern District of New York, April 16, 2018, in New York. Officials with the FBI, armed with a search warrant, raided Cohen's office and two private residences last week. YANA PASKOVA, GETTY IMAGES

Adult-film actress Stephanie Clifford, also known as Stormy Daniels, speaks outside U.S. Federal Court with her lawyer Michael Avenatti (R) in Lower Manhattan, New York on April 16, 2018.
Stormy Daniels, the porn star who claims to have had a consensual sexual encounter with Donald Trump a decade ago, said April 17, 2018 that she is pursuing legal action against the president because she is "done being bullied.""I'm tired of being threatened, intimidating me, and trying to say that you'll ruin my life and take all my money and my house," Daniels said on ABC's "The View.""I'm done being bullied," Daniels said of legal threats from Trump's lawyer Michael Cohen, who is now embroiled in his own legal troubles."I'm done," Daniels said. EDUARDO MUNOZ ALVAREZ, AFP/GETTY IMAGES

In this courtroom sketch, Joanna Hendon, right, one of President Donald Trump's lawyers, speaks as the president's personal attorney Michael Cohen, left, sits next to one of his own attorneys Todd Harrison, center, with porn star Stormy Daniels visible in the audience between Cohen and Harrison, during a federal court hearing in New York, April 16, 2018. Attorneys for Cohen and Trump tried to persuade U.S. District Judge Kimba Wood to delay prosecutors from examining records and electronic devices seized in the raids on the grounds that many of them are protected by attorney-client privilege. ELIZABETH WILLIAMS VIA AP

(L to R) Todd Harrison and Joseph Evans, attorneys for Michael Cohen, arrive for a court proceeding regarding the search warrants served on President Donald Trump's longtime personal attorney Michael Cohen, at the United States District Court Southern District of New York, April 13, 2018 in New York. Cohen and his lawyers were asking the court to block Justice Department officials from reading documents and materials related to his relationship with President Donald Trump that they believe should be protected by attorney-client privilege. Officials with the FBI, armed with a search warrant, raided Cohen's office and two private residences earlier in the week. DREW ANGERER, GETTY IMAGES

CBS This Morning co-anchor Gayle King, left, Stormy Daniels' attorney Michael Avenatti, CNN news anchor Don Lemon and FOX News talk show host Sean Hannity pose for a selfie at The Hollywood Reporter's annual 35 Most Powerful People in Media event at The Pool on Thursday, April 12, 2018, in New York.
In court hearings on April 16, 2018, it was revealed that the client list of presidential lawyer Michael Cohen also includes Sean Hannity, one of the president's biggest supporters. EVAN AGOSTINI, INVISION/AP

In this Sept. 19, 2017 file photo, President Trump's personal attorney Michael Cohen appears in front of members of the media after a closed door meeting with the Senate Intelligence Committee on Capitol Hill, in Washington. Federal agents carrying court-authorized search warrants have seized documents from Cohen according to a statement from Cohens attorney, Stephen Ryan. He says that the search warrants were executed by the office of the U.S. Attorney for Southern District of New York but they are in part related to special counsel Robert Muellers investigation. Andrew Harnik, AP

The actress Stephanie Clifford, who uses the stage name Stormy Daniels, performs at the Solid Gold Fort Lauderdale strip club on March 9, 2018 in Pompano Beach, Florida. Stephanie Clifford who claims to have had an affair with President Trump has filed a suit against him in an attempt to nullify a nondisclosure deal with Trump attorney Michael Cohen days before Trump's 2016 presidential victory. Joe Raedle, Getty Images

Michael Cohen's lawyer David Schwartz appeared on Megyn Kelly TODAY on March 29, 2018 to discuss the Stormy Daniels lawsuit against President Trump and her attorney's motion to depose Trump and Cohen. Schwartz called the case "completely frivolous." Nathan Congleton, NBC

(L to R) Retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, President-elect Donald Trump's choice for National Security Advisor, Michael Cohen, executive vice president of the Trump Organization and special counsel to Donald Trump, and former Texas Governor Rick Perry talk with each other in the lobby at Trump Tower, December 12, 2016, in New York City. President-elect Donald Trump and his transition team were in the process of filling cabinet and other high level positions for the new administration. Drew Angerer, Getty Images